The Simpsons/Saturdays of Thunder

Saturdays of Thunder
Season 3, Episode 9
Airdate	November 14, 1991
Production Number	8F07
Written by	Ken Levine, David Isaacs
Directed by	Jim Reardon
← 3x08 Lisa's Pony	3x10 → Flaming Moe's
The Simpsons — Season Three

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Saturdays of Thunder is the ninth episode of the third season of The Simpsons, and the forty-fourth episode overall.

Guest Stars:

Notes

Title Sequence

• Blackboard:
• Couch Gag:

Trivia

The Show

The first installment of "I Can't Believe They Invented It," a parody of infomercials selling oft-inefficient or worthless contraptions and devices meant to solve minor problems, is seen here. Troy McClure and Dr. Nick Riviera host most of these segments, and the first item sold is "Spiffy!," the 21st-century stain remover (meant to polish and clean tombstones). One of the items mentioned, apparently featured in a previous segment, was a kitchen appliance named Mr. Sugar Cube, wherein a large sack of sugar results in a small amount of sugar cubes being produced. (Although Homer – not realizing it was money wasted – brags, "That baby changed our lives!")

Allusions and References

• 1973 National Soap Box Derby World Championship: Along with Days Of Thunder, the episode's plot gets inspiration from a real-life incident where the winner of that race cheats to win but is eventually stripped of his trophy after he is found out.
• Days Of Thunder: The episode title and much of its plot – a crash badly injuring one of the protagonist's friends, and the protagonist deciding whether to concede the race to a cheating racer or stand up to him and go ahead with the race – is taken from the 1990 movie starring Tom Cruise.
• Fatherhood songs: Two songs with a man's relationship with his son – Harry Chapin's "Cat's In the Cradle," and Bobby Goldsboro's "Watching Scotty Grow" – play at different points in the episode. "Cat's In the Cradle," about a father and son who eventually realize they are virtually strangers despite their biological relationship, plays earlier (when Homer questions his abilities as a father), while the Mac Davis-penned "Watching Scotty Grow" is a more positive take on fatherhood, used when Homer and Bart bond as they build their soapbox racer.
• Lethal Weapon: The franchise's first film, pairing Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives – an impulsive white officer paired with a veteran detective who is Black – is referenced, with Glover's character referencing his daughter's graduation from college and his retirement plans. Glover's character is not brutally gunned down, however, unlike the Simpsons' parody, where McBain's partner is shot repeatedly by one of the film's supervillain's lackeys.

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